Indonesia’s B40 Plan Back on Track

Indonesia will implement its 40% biodiesel blending (B40) program by July 2021 as planned according to a Reuters report last month. The country has been increasing the palm oil content of its biodiesel since 2015 in effort to reduce petroleum imports and support the domestic palm oil industry.

In April, the Indonesian government announced that it would delay the introduction of B40 due to COVID-19 and low crude oil prices.  However, with improvement in crude oil prices the B40 plan could go ahead, the report said.

Indonesia makes B30 biodiesel with a mix of 30% palm fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) with regular diesel, but it had faced resistance from consumers who said it was not compatible with their vehicles. B40 would be produced using a different formulation, a combination of 30% FAME and 10% palm oil-based ‘green diesel’ with conventional diesel.